Tourism and sustainability in the Amazon: a new territorial content and experience in the municipality of Silves, Amazonas

Abstract

This study tries to evidence the role of tourism as a content that reveals the new forms of organization and appropriation of the amazon territory. The different forms of nature appraisement are determining an articulation of interests among social actors that represent powers of diverse space scales, such as local populations, municipal councils and international cooperation. The tourism has been a media that represents those values on the nature. Conservation value, value of survival, reservation value, market value. The tourism in the amazon cities, the tourism represented by the forest hotels, the tourism practiced in the conservation units and finally the tourism developed from community organiza- tions supported by the non Government Organizations, all are modalities configured as a valuation form of the amazon nature, each one with their interests and motivations. We highlight three community ex- periences of tourism, two of the researches were carried out starting from questionnaires and the third with fielwork.